Stamping Nail Art- Konad m77

I just wanted to share with you some models I made on my nails

I was using the Konad m77

It is a great set. I combined dark blue nail polish with white 

I got the white polish from e-Bay. It is supposed to be special thicker nail polish for making patterns, but I don't really think it is special at all. Anyway, it was a good way for the seller to market it ^.^ 

I hope it inspired you. I can really relax by doing these patterns on my nails. And I find them really cute and unique, too.

Thoughts from French Female Aikidoka: Sylvia Aikidoka

I have found some interviews with French female Aikidoka on  the Youtube channel of AikidoFFAAA: Sylvia, Sandra, Florence and Jacqueline. These fit really well into my series revealing thoughts from female aikidoka. In this post I am sharing the interview with my namesake, Sylvia. She is a French aikidoka, so I am trying my best to translate her thoughts from the interview into English hereunder:

I was a 18 years old student when I heard about aikido. I went to see it in the university's club. The first course was a revelation for me; I was seduced by what I could see there. Regarding an attack, how to resolve this issue, this conflict so that we preserve our integrity and that we at the same time become one with the situation. This is life: being regularly confronted with situations of which one has to be able to make a diagnostic. The movements require a certain energy and a physical effort; the projections require certain dynamism, all in all the muscles are really solicited. It is not that customary for a woman to touch a person of the opposite sex, that is why it is important to put those movements at their proper place with the help of the dojo etiquette. At the beginning, the Japanese martial arts were reserved to men only, only men participated at wars. It is the progress of the humanity itself that aikido is for women also, as there are no more reasons for women not to have access to this discipline, and I also think that it is a positive change in the life of the dojo also. From the moment a woman is in a certain environment, it is also a profit for that environment, for that system. So from this point of view it is also positive. I think we discover at this point other facets of the practice and this will bring a lot to men also. The movements, the gestures can be understood differently by a woman. The muscular mass of a woman is not the same, the tonicity is not the same the intensity will not necessary be the same either, but we can compensate with other aspects: a better placement, a better vision, a better response adapted to the attack. The martial arts are distinguished from sports, the letter being only based on performance. The aikido and the high martial arts go beyond that. (The interview is part of a press research entitled Women and Aikido)

In the hope that this inspired both my male and female readers out there I invite you to check out my Interview with Lia Suzuki Sensei also.

Aikitrend

One of the days I arrived home to see this in my post:

 It was a carefully wrapped gift from Aikitrend. 

I made a showcase:

It is a silver Aikido pendant with beautifully defined Kanji. You can wear it to school or work and even to trainings if your Sensei allows you to do so. In our dojo we are not allowed to wear any jewelry because of safety reasons, so I usually wear it to work. People have been noticing and asking what the symbols mean. I always let them guess. Some thought it was my name in Japanese or just some motivational words. After I let them guess a few times, it is a very good pretext for me to tell them more about aikido.

In case you are interested in Aikitrend items, click on the icon below to start shopping.

Aikido Summer Training Camp 2011

I love to fly during the aikinage. I can't wait to meet my friends on the next training. This is all the effect of the summer training camp. We had such a wonderful summertime together with a lot of training and a lot of fun. So I really feel like posting this group photo of us. I hope we will build even stronger friendships and become really good aikidoka.

2011 Aikikai Aikido Summer Training Camp in Szantód

There is still a lot of work we need to do on our website. It is actually my boyfriend and I with the help of a senpai (the cute girl with a hakama on Sensei's right) who are redesigning it. We also have to look for a better dojo for the future that would attract more practitioners. But these will all come in time.

What we have already is a neat Facebook page! 

Feel free to check it out and like it. I have also posted some pictures from the training camp there.

My Sasa Order has Arrived

... and I am in skincare heaven ever since! 

Digging into the box

Package no. 1 with 5 items

Package no. 2 with 7 items

Cute scrubby from Japan for cleaning pores

I had to open of course some of the items I have been waiting for the most. They are as follows:

am+pm, Kiss Lip Softsense, de herbes, scrubby, Laneige

I will make sure to do a haul video and lots of reviews with the different items.